[2017] e-Book: Gates of the Ant(arctic)
[2017] e-Book: Gates of the Ant(arctic)
This e-book focusses on both North and South Pole and is a compilation of three expeditions undertaken by Christian Clauwers between 2013 and 2017.
It highlights the beauty and the magic of Svalbard (Spitsbergen). The e-book includes exclusive footage inside the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the most important room of our planet with more than 1.000.000 crop seeds, safely stored deep inside an arctic mountain to preserve the food production and consumption for future generations. The vault has a total capacity to store 4.5 million varieties of crops.
This bunker, drilled deep into the rocks, consists of a more than 130 meters long tunnel, followed by three spacious rooms with a permanent temperature of –18 ° Celsius. Over the years, seeds of all the crops in the world have been collected here to protect them against all kinds of circumstances in which plant species might become extinct. Scientists believe that this bunker deep in the permafrost can withstand any disaster. And yet, in 2017, meltwater seeped into the bunker and completely flooded the access tunnel. Due to the negative temperature in the bunker, the water froze and the storage areas themselves were luckily saved from flooding…
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The Antarctica part highlights unique remote and rarely seen places, phenomena and wildlife, when Christian semi-circumnavigated the great white continent during 5 weeks on an expedition ship, from New Zealand to Argentina.
After leaving the uninhabited subantarctic Campbell Island (New Zealand), the expedition ship sailed for 5 days through the ‘furious fifties’ and the ‘screaming sixties’, heading 90°South towards the frozen continent. Cape Adare was Christian’s first encounter with the Antarctic beauty.
During 5 weeks, sailing through the Southern Ocean, Christian witnesses and documented the beauty of Robertson Bay, Possession Island, Dickson Pillar, Cape Hallet, Franklin Island, Terra Nova Bay, the McMurdo Sound, the Ross Ice Shelf, the Amundsen Sea, the Bellingshauen Sea, Peter-I Island, the Lemaire Channel and the Neumayer Channel, Wilhelmina Bay, Danco Island, the Argentine Islands, the South Shetland Islands (Barrientos Island and Aitcho Island), all the way through the Beagle Channel, passing Puerto Willams to Ushuaia.
Visiting the scientific bases of Italy (Mario Zucchelli Station), Germany (Gondwana Station), the USA (Mc Murdo Station), Ukraine (Vernadsky Station) and the UK (‘Wordie House’ on Winter Island) was an interesting part of the long and cold journey.
Christian also documented Borchgrevink’s Hut at Cape Adere, Scott’s Terra Nova Hut, Scott’s Discovery Hut (“Hut Point”) and Shackelton’s Hut at Cape Royds.
The e-book also includes unique footage of the rarely visited, extremely remote and mysterious Dry Valleys, only accessible by helicopter.
Last but not least: besides the magic light, Christian photographed tons of penguins, whales, albatrosses, etc.
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[Original paperback printed in Belgium. Language: English, 32 pages, © 2017]
THE NORTH AND SOUTH POLE
For a long time, the North and South Poles symbolized a pure, unspoiled world. A world hostile to humans with temperatures dropping deep below zero. Unknown, vast, inhospitable areas where storms roared across the plains, proving fatal to many polar explorers of the past.
Today, both poles symbolize global warming. Despite their immense scale, their vulnerability is at the forefront. Every fractional rise of a degree in temperature has an enormous impact on the ice masses and glaciers, which in turn have an undeniable impact on the animals that find their biotope there.
The inhospitable rugged continent began to need care and nurturing. Recent research at several internationally renowned institutions analyzed the long-term impact of different emission levels. They concluded that the rise in seawater could well be greater than predicted to date. Even with the strictest emission controls, global sea levels will rise dramatically with major consequences for over 100 million people living in coastal areas.
Sea level rise is the result of melting glaciers and ice sheets, along with the warming and expansion of ocean waters. Current efforts to limit emissions are not enough to prevent the predicted increase. In addition, the instability of the Antarctic ice sheets can lead to greater rise in sea levels, even if the most ambitious targets are met.
